[CPEO-IRF] DOD won't support EPA oversight at BRAC 2005 bases

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

On July 25, 2006, Defense Environmental Alert reported, "In a break with 
past years' policy, the Defense Department will not provide funds for 
EPA staff to oversee cleanups at the 2005 round of base closures and 
realignments." The publication also reported that the Defense Department 
would no longer form BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) Cleanup Teams 
(BCTs) in partnership with regulatory agencies. I consider these to be 
two major steps backward, likely to lead to less adequate cleanup and 
creating potential obstacles for property transfer.

If upheld, these new policies will undermine base cleanup, transfer, and 
reuse. It will be mitigated only by the fact that only a relatively 
small number of bases are slated for transfer as part of the 2005 BRAC 
round.

EPA personnel have been essential in maintaining an adequate level of 
cleanup at BRAC bases from earlier rounds, even in states with strong 
regulatory programs. BCTs have not only been effective, overall, but 
they serve as a model for collaborative problem-solving at other cleanup 
sites.

It will be difficult to get Congress to provide the funds directly to 
EPA, in part because the EPA appropriation pie is so small, and in part 
because it will get mired in the debate over Superfund funding.

Other polluters pay for regulatory oversight, and DOD should do the same.

I suspect that DOD is following this path because at a number of 
facilities EPA officials have pushed successfully for more complete 
investigations and cleanup. Conceivably, reducing oversight will 
accelerate "cleanup" by requiring less remediation in the short run. In 
the medium run, however, it could slow approval for the transfer of 
property to non-federal entities. And in the long run it will create 
enormous problems, as the bases' new occupants come into contact with 
contamination that has not been adequately addressed.

Defense Environmental Alert cited a Defense Department spokeswoman who 
argued that cleanup programs at closing bases are more mature than they 
were in the 1990s. This is true, but changes in use, or simply 
investigations designed to support transfer, are likely to uncover new 
environmental liabilities unknown or underappreciated while those same 
bases were on active duty.


Lenny

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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